You can also become a supporter for just $6 a month and receive a weekly newsletter with exclusive content. “The difference here is that Nixon talked about the scheme only privately,” the Post’s Aaron Blake wrote about the scheme many years later. At the time, the Florida licenses were challenged by Nixon allies, but the president’s press secretary, Ron Ziegler, denied any White House involvement. Unlike Nixon, there wasn’t even a private threat in the case of GE and the Bush administration. Nixon and Bush also had to worry about Congress — not just Democrats but also Republicans who valued their independence and who had a conscience.